Clayco Electric

No regrets choosing Clayco Electric to install my solar. But I have learned a couple of things since installation almost 2 years ago, so this review covers more than just Clayco Electric. Hope it helps. Before we went solar, we tried to save money on our electric bill by replacing an over 20 year old AC unit - with a brand new, "ultra efficient" top of the line unit sold by one of the advertisers frequently seen on TV. We literally spent more on the AC unit than we did on Solar when we decided to have that installed. Sadly, even with the expensive, top of the line, super efficient AC unit our electrical savings were not even noticeable. The "up to 40 percent savings on your electric bill" that was frequently advertised by almost all AC installers never materialized. Don't believe it is the units fault, as it works quite well, with no problems, and we are pleased with it. Except for the obvious lack of savings on our electric bill during the summer months. And yes, we had that company out multiple times to verify that everything was working as it should. But nothing ever changed and our bill never went down. Moral of that story is that AC energy efficiency ratings are over hyped and over sold in my opinion. Two years later, we decided to go Solar. Had multiple bids before we chose Clayco Electric. Theirs was not the cheapest, but it was on the lower end. Decided to go with Clayco, because their bid showed what panels and inverters they were going to use. Was able to look them up online and see that they were high quality, efficient components made by an established, reputable company. Once we accepted their bid, the rest was downhill. The paperwork and permitting process - all handled by Clayco - sometimes required input from us, but was easy to comply with, and any questions were fielded by our sales person. When installation rolled around, they were here and everything was handled professionally. Another wait for Tucson Electric to come out and change our meter, then give the ok to turn it all on. YES, ye, yes, it is saving us money on our electric bill. Way more than the overpriced AC unit. A few more thoughts about the experience. First and most important - if you have wifi and internet, Clayco will set your system up to send reports to the solar panel company showing system health and power produced. And you can log in and see all that. That's all good, but there is a small problem with that. By default, the system is set to report every 15 minutes while the sun is shinning. If you DON'T have unlimited data on your internet plan, that reporting will eat up your data and drive you into overages very quickly. The only way to avoid that is to call the solar panel company and request that they change your reporting frequency to "low bandwidth." And if anything happens to cause your internet to reset - like resetting your modem or router, or an electrical outage - their system will reset to the default 15 minute reporting and start eating your data again. Until you call them and have it set back to low bandwidth. You can't change it (I have asked) and it does not lock in. Any system interruption makes it reset. Next is the tiny amount that TEP credits you for excess generation from your panels that is fed back into the grid. We always produce more electricity than we use - even accounting for the electricity used when night falls and solar panels are not producing. But because the TEP credit is far less than what they charge you for electricity, your bill will never be zero. We save over a hundred bucks a month on our bill, more when not running AC. It varies depending on how much the sun shines and how much we use when it gets dark - but our bill is never zero. Keep that in mind if you have to finance your system. Next thoughts are about the different bill that you will get from TEP. It shows electricity you used from TEP, solar power generated and what they credit you for that, and all the usual taxes, surcharges, and such. What it does NOT show you is exactly how much electricity your house used that month. Maybe it can be calculated, but I don't know how. This is a problem - only if you like to compare your total electricity usage month to month, and to previous years. To my knowledge it can't be done - especially from after you went solar to before you went solar. In my experience, solar panels will cut your electric bill way more than upgrading your AC unit - it's not even close. And I have no complaints about Clayco or the equipment they installed. If I were to do it again, they would be at the top of my list.